The invention relates generally to health monitoring systems and more particularly to a system and method for monitoring a person's walking speed over time to identify changes in walking speed.
Many elderly people live alone. The elderly also are at risk from disease and illness. Unfortunately, the elderly may not seek medical attention in a timely manner because they live alone. Worse, they may become incapacitated and not be able to call for help. In addition, the effects of illness or aging may progress slowly. Thus, an ill or aging person may not fully recognize that they are in a declining state of health. Furthermore, others with regular contact with the elderly person may not recognize the effects of illness or aging, as its progression may be too slow to be noticed.
Among other symptoms, a person may begin walking slower as their health declines or when they become ill. Similarly, a person recovering from an illness may begin walking faster as their health improves. Thus, a person's walking speed may be used as an indicator of health. Previous attempts to use a person's walking speed as a diagnostic tool have taken place in laboratory environments or in other environments outside the person's home. For example, a treadmill in a doctor's office may be used to measure a person's walking speed. However, performing the walking speed tests in these environments may introduce factors that tend to make the results of the test less informative. For example, a person's performance may be affected by being aware that the test is being performed, e.g., a patient may walk faster than normal in an attempt to do well on the test. In addition, the person has to leave their home to perform the test, which the person may not want to do.
Thus, a technique for unobtrusively measuring and monitoring the true walking speed of an individual is desirable.